Cubs' Maddon likes Zobrist's approach
WASHINGTON — With the Cubs facing left-hander Gio Gonzalez in Game 2 of the National League division series, manager Joe Maddon went with a lineup heavy on right-handed hitters, including switch hitters Ben Zobrist and Ian Happ.
Zobrist played Friday night. Sitting out at the start of Saturday's 6-3 loss to the Washington Nationals were left-handed batters Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber.
Zobrist batted only .179 while hitting right-handed during the regular season, compared with .249 batting left-handed.
But Maddon has liked what he's seen from Zobrist lately. Jon Jay, a left-handed hitter, was ready again off the bench.
“It's kind of a push,” he said. “I was watching Zo in BP (batting practice). I kind of like what I saw yesterday. To Jay's credit and also something that impacts him a bit is that he's so good off the bench. I think you saw last night. You could pick a spot for him if you're really good about it. But primarily, this guy's been really tough on lefties.”
In Friday night's series opener, Zobrist batted leadoff against righty Stephen Strasburg. He went 0-for-4 for the night, including making outs on first-pitch swings his first two times up. Maddon seemed OK with that.
“He had good at-bats yesterday,” Maddon said. “He didn't get the runner over, but jumping on Strasburg early (in) counts, that's what you should do. He had good swings, got underneath a couple balls. But there was nothing wrong with his swing yesterday. He got underneath them. I liked his approach, actually.
“Why would you want to get behind? He (Strasburg) is the kind of guy you don't want to work the count versus because his other stuff is the strikeout stuff. The only chance to really get to him is get to him early as you're seeing the fastball.”
Zobrist was 1-for-4 Saturday.
Pushing for his guy:
As he does every year, Joe Maddon said Saturday he'd like to see his bench coach, Dave Martinez, get serious consideration for a managerial job this off-season.
“I'd love to see him in the group (of candidates),” Maddon said. “He belongs in the group. Listen, I know all these people that are being considered, and I promise you our guy matches up with every one of them. It's baffling to me a bit why that doesn't occur more often. He's been around a lot of winning teams here.
“Not only that, but just him as a player, that's what drew me to him in the beginning with the Rays I never had been with him as a teammate, but I watched him play. He was such a heady, aggressive, gritty kind of a player. Bilingual. All that matters. He's not afraid to have tough conversations, and I think a lot of times people in that position shy away from.”
On a lighter note:
Cubs starting pitcher Jon Lester was asked about the fan who caught Anthony Rizzo's home run ball Saturday and how he compared with “Nacho Man” in St. Louis, a fan who became famous for a few minutes for having Addison Russell bring him a new tray of nachos after Russell spilled his first tray. At the time, Lester said the uproar over “Nacho Man” said something about society. He clarified on Saturday.
“I wasn't saying anything about him personally,” Lester said. “I was saying the fact that people were asking for his autograph and taking pictures and him doing interviews. I have no quarrel with ‘Nacho Man.'”